This movie was amazing. I had a hard time starting this project, but kept thinking about Alice in Wonderland and jumping down that “rabbit hole.” This movie, to me, is about really freeing your mind and letting your imagination go into another space. I created a photograph in photoshop that explains that. Even though we can only see what is in this dimension, doesn’t mean there aren’t other ones.

Justin had an out of body experience when he had his triple skull fracture. His spirit left his body, as he could see his family and self while he was leaving. He said his spirit guide was a woman and told him he had to choose. He could either leave with her or go back. He chose to come back, but said it was unreal.

I think my classmates will not be surprised by this. I think they’ll believe it’s cliché, some might have already done it. Also, some may not have this fear. Either way, it was mine to conquer.

I went skydiving & thought I had a fear of heights, but really it was the fear of the unknown.

When I was presenting my “fear,” everyone seemed interested or at least amused by my guest’s jumping record. I didn’t expect the other students to be interested, but I am starting to get used to them just listening and observing. Plus, I think it helped having another Doug up there, who I later found out has a fear of public speaking (and wants to sign back up to school for classes like Beth’s). Brandon, of course, made sure to market his job, but it’s not really a job. Those guys love and really care what they’re doing.

Overall, I know I need to work on my confidence and just continue to jump. Whether or not, I fail, I’ll learn and do it differently or better the next time. That’s just life. I don’t think I needed to jump from a plane to realize it, but I’m glad it did. It really shook me up and made me feel amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a high like that (not sure if that’s good or not), but I’m not addicted. I’m just glad I accomplished something I always told myself I would never do, but did. That’s amazing. I’m ditching the word “never” from my vocabulary. I can’t thank my internship for giving me this gift. It’s amazing.

My perspective of Media Arts & Science has changed from where I first saw myself, but that’s okay. I know that this field is progressive and that the point of college is to give me the tools, logic, & time to apply myself to where I would be. Since this summer, I have started to create creative blog/social media posts for different companies. I enjoy managing and enhancing their digital presence, while companies/owners can do their day-to-day tasks.

This has snowballed and I have people emailing me daily for Social Media consulting and speaking gigs. I use a content management system called Sprout Social to help keep organized. It also graphs all the data into PDFs, which I am bringing in the class.

On the first and third Friday of every month, I host open office hours, where members come in and ask me questions about technology or social media. I go through a checklist and help them set goals to accomplish, if they don’t have the means to pay someone help to manage their online presence. What’s different about me is that I don’t push the SEO buzzwords, but ask people to be real. We are tired of being sold and we want to buy from people we trust. So far, the results have been great.

I loved “Home Movie,” & the people who were in the documentary. Real people being themselves. The fact that people struggle to all fit in to this arbitrary mold drives me insane, but to see people just loving life and doing what they want is inspiring.

What is the most important thing in your life? Living life and the people who are in it.

How does discussing that make you feel? I am comfortable about talking about my life & how I see myself. It’s different to how most think and feel, but that’s okay. We all have the option to express ourselves.

How does it make you feel about your goals when you think about the amount of time you might or might not have in which to achieve them? I don’t know if this is the right approach, but I am a list taker and there is something about checking things off a list that is satisfying. Also, creating the thought before hand and knowing that I’m working toward a goal really helps me approach this.

What are your thoughts on the idea that you are in charge of how much time you actually have in a given day? I live w/ the philosophy that you choose your own reality.

What are the limitations your place on yourself? Doubts, fear of the unknown, but I’m always having to overcome this.

What are the limitations that are imposed on you by outside sources? Finances, other commitments, and always looking for a solution. If money and other commitments are an issue, I know I can change that and make it happen.

What can you do about any of this? Continue to be positive and pushing through.

Choose a red book and open it to page 6. Close your eyes and put your finger on the page somewhere.

What did you find? Chapter 2 with words and brown stains. I pointed to the word “the.”

If your finger landed on a paragraph, how many times does the letter P show up in that paragraph? 14 “Ps”

If it landed on a picture, how many straight lines are in the picture? No photo

If it landed on white space, what is the white space surrounding? None

Can you imagine the white space as a sea and the other parts (words, pictures, etc.) as islands floating in white water or space? A big smelly sea with stink bombs, green moss, green steaming gases and odors, old tires, oil, and dead fish.

Using your other senses, explain what the paper feels like.

Is it slick or rough? Rough

What does the cover feel like? Fabric, threaded material

Can you feel the ink of the words if you close your eyes? Yes, slightly

Do different colors feel different with your eyes closed? It was only black and white.

What else can you discover about the paper? It was thicker than most, smelled horrible, and dirty.

What about the cover? The cover was a soft material.

Without destroying the book, unless you own it and want to, see if you can figure out how the book was constructed.

Is it stitched? Yes

Is it glued? Not that I can tell

Is there any cloth on this book or is it all paper? Fabric for the cover

Is it a hardback or paperback? Hardback

Does it have signatures? (Hint: you may need to look up what signatures are in the context of making books…) Yes

If it has signatures, how many pages are in each and how many signatures are there in the whole book? 8 signatures & about 50 pages

If it does not, look at the glue on the ends of the spine and describe what you see. Nothing

Flip through the pages and look at the end papers.

Is there any writing in the book, other than the printing? Yes

If so, what does it say? “Baker & Taylor 4.69 PW 10-14-74” and on the back, “111, 1104 Mystery, Smith, Charles, Reverend Randollph and wages of sin”

Why is it there? Reference for the library

Who wrote it? Librarians and people who work here.

If you do not know, then imagine who might have written it. Conservatively dresses librarian with silver highlights and glasses.

If there is no writing in the book then how does it make you feel to know you are the first person (possibly) to think about it? n/a

Examine the book more.

Are there any stains on the book? lots

Are there any fingerprints? no

What do they look like? brown spots that are faded. It could have been red at one time or another.

How might they have happened? Food, drinks, careless or clumsy people, transportation of the book

Look at the pages of the book.

What is the color of the pages? I bet they are not really white. Off white, cream

How would you describe the color? Is it warm or cold? Bright or dull, etc. Dull

What other visual things can you explore with the book? Serif

Think about the history of this book.

Can you see any other evidence that someone else has handled this book? Yes, very old and tattered.

What are the edges of the pages like? Describe them. Soft, not sharp as they could be.

Can you imagine what someone else might have been thinking as they read this book? How can they get rid of the smell.

Do you think anyone else has used this book like you are right now instead of reading it? Maybe as a door stopper.

Flip through the pages quickly.

Can you hear the sound? If so, describe it. Yes, sounds like the small breeze.

If not, what is your experience like? … a smelly breeze…

Can you feel the breeze? yes

Can you move something with the wind generated from the book? A small paper bowl in water…

Could you use this book to win a game you created using the book’s wind power? Probably not.

Drop the book on the floor.

What did you experience? It had a small thump on the carpet.

Did you sense the vibrations the book made? Yes

Did you feel it in your feet? Yes

Take your shoes off. Now drop the book. Was there any difference? Yes, I dropped it on my toes… on accident.. haha.

Hold the book between your hands with one hand on each cover and the book closed. Close your eyes.

Is the book cold? Hold it like that for at least one minute. No

Now feel the cover. Can you feel the temperature change from where your hands were to where they were not? Slighty

Have you ever been aware of this before when you were holding a book to read it? No

If your heat transfers in this situation and you noticed it because I asked you to, why do you think you have never noticed it before? No

If you have noticed the temperature of a book you were holding before, describe why you noticed it. N/A

Smell the book.

What does the smell make you think of? Dirty feet

If you can’t think of anything, describe the smells you can sense. (Interesting fact: Did you know that I have friends [many librarians, actually] who choose their books partly based on how they smell? Honestly.) I would never rent/buy/use this book for reading purposes… it stinks soooo bad.. I can’t believe out of all the red books I choose, it has to be the skankiest.

I do not recommend tasting the book for health and safety issues… 🙂

Now, finally, read the first page. If it is just pictures, read the story of the pictures.

What is the title of this book? Reverend Randollph and the Wages of Sin

Based on the first page, explain why you think the book was titled that. It’s a mystery, but there wasn’t much to clue in except for the creepy scenery.

Reflect back on this entire exercise.

What is your experience like with the book now that you have experienced it differently? I liked it, until I opened it.

Do you still find books to be boring, assuming you did in the first place? No, I don’t find them to be boring. This one has a smelly personality.

What, if anything has changed for you in regards to books? Not to base a book by its cover, color, or type.

Now think about this class.

How did I “fishbowl” this assignment? By looking at the book a different way than before.

What do you think the point is of this exercise? ^^^^^^^^^^^^ see above.

What can you take from this exercise that might help you with future projects? To look at things in a fresh/new/different perspectives.

Gluten Monster

Unfortunately, cookies make me sick. I used to love them and still crave them from time to time, but I can’t have gluten anymore. I cut it out of my life a year ago & I haven’t looked back, but I’m starting to find myself more open to gluten free options.

So, for class today, I’m going to share gluten free cookies and see if they taste different or the classes response. I don’t really want to tell them afterwards and see if they “taste” different. So yes, I’m using the class to experiment if these store bought gluten free cookies are just as good as the regular ones.

My taste has changed since I gave up a lot of sugar & gluten. I used to love sugary drinks, especially with coffee, but now I drink it unsweetened or black. Sometimes, it’s nice to go above and beyond and have a treat. Plus, this is the second time this school year that there have been cookies in class and I can’t enjoy them. I don’t expect others to cater to my needs, but I’d love to share this side of me to our class.

What did I remember?

I really enjoyed the lady who said she has no idea how to use Photoshop, but really surprised herself, when we all loved it! My other favorites were the toe drawing of the cat. I liked the rough edges, it brought the cat to life for me, as well as the left-handed portrait. Honestly, I don’t think there wasn’t a project I wasn’t intrigued about yesterday.

Veronica’s project was cool too, while discusses the many senses we used. She had sight, taste, smell, and taste. I could hear the shuffling of plastic folks, bags, and her trying to cut the pie. She was able to reach all those senses for everyone who ate her treats.

Senses

There are so many different ways to communicate, English, doesn’t have to be one of them. Photos, movement, facial expressions, & sounds are only a few of the many ways to communicate. I was intrigued when Beth turned off the lights in class, not only because the light were hurting my eyes yesterday, but because it alerted everyone to what would happen next. Our human instincts came out.. We were loud, laughing, and shuffling around. I couldn’t smell the cigarette smoke from either Mark or Brandon, until the lights went off.. then my senses kicked in. It was pretty strong!
I really wanted to listen. Hear the different sounds that were created, especially after Beth started walking around the room, but Mark & Brandon were crazy in the dark.

When we were all handed a small piece of cookie, I knew somehow this will play into next week. I just wasn’t for sure how. I’m still not for sure how I will incorporate this into next week’s project. Cookie crumbs and the rough edges remind me of dirt….. haha. I don’t know how I’ll utilize this for next week.